


Conversations Under Snow

by KiannaLeigh



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale, 幽☆遊☆白書 | YuYu Hakusho: Ghost Files
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bathing/Washing, Break Up, Crossover Pairings, Demon/Human Relationships, Falling In Love, First Time Blow Jobs, Geographical Isolation, Lust at First Sight, M/M, Masturbation, Mutual Pining, Off-screen Relationship(s), Oral Sex, Resolved Sexual Tension, Sharing Body Heat, Sharing a Bed, Snowed In, Voyeurism, protective big brother sesshomaru
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 06:48:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8963884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KiannaLeigh/pseuds/KiannaLeigh
Summary: When a snow storm traps Kurama and Inuyasha together after three years apart, there's little for them to but take hot baths, drink hot chocolate in bed, and talk in the middle of the night. There is one other thing they could be doing, but they're going to have to straighten things out between them first.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rewrite of a story titled "Snowed In" that was on my closed (or soon to be) Fanfiction.net account. It's been cleaned up, with new details and more quivering romantic feels. Enjoy.

It started with a letter.

The cold, clear, still winter morning was cut through with Kagome’s voice as it rolled over the empty fields and climbed up the barren tree when Inuyasha sat. He wasn’t quite sleeping, more just resting. It turned out there was no real happily ever after to their story. Naraku defeated, there were still enough demons doing enough damage to keep them busy. That was especially true now that Miroku and Sango were busy taking care of their children. It had been three years, and yet Inuyasha had yet to settle down. Neither had Kagome. Between a little part time job she had, and university, and demon slaying, Inuyasha had learned to fear and respect her stamina.

Now she was running across the cold, lifeless fields, in a pants suit and coat, approaching him at full speed. Inuyasha watched her close the distance between herself and the tree and hopped down to meet her as she came abreast of it.

“You haven’t gotten a new coat yet?” Inuyasha asked, eyeing the missing buttons on her coat.

“I haven’t had time. Demons and school eat up pretty much all of it.”

“Well, you’re going to freeze.”

“I’ll live, Inuyasha.”

The half-breed huffed. “Well, don’t come crying to me when you’re all sick and gross.” He has turned his head away by just let the wind swirled around them in just the right way and scent caught Inuyasha’s attention. He glanced at Kagome’s hand.

“What … what do you have?”

She smiled. “I’m taking a vacation and you’re coming with me!” With a flourish, she produced two small letters, the source of the scent.

“Kurama?” Inuyasha asked?

“You remember him!” Kagome asked.

How could Inuyasha forget? In their last stand against Naraku, their final and greatest moment that lead to the destruction of the cursed Shikon Jewel, he’d been there.

Kagome had always needed to live two lives. One in the Sengoku period and one in her time. She had felt so alone. No one, not even Inuyasha, Miroku, or Sango could understand that sort of stress. But then, during a family gathering she’d met a cousin she had known she had. Shuuichi Minamoto.

He was beautiful, polite, perfect. They’d gone to lunch one day, just to spend some time together. Maybe each sense that they had more in common that it first appeared. Shuuichi was actually a sort of half-demon. A demon’s soul trapped in a human body. Inuyasha hadn’t even known such a thing was possible. He was a member of a team lead by a person known as the Spirit Detective. Miroku and Sango had heard of such being, a warrior of the spirit realm working to keep the balance between humans and demons, but had dismissed it as an old wives’ tale. They were wrong.

The Spirit Detective was real and one of his most trusted allies was the fox demon Youko Kurama, the human Shuuichi Minamoto. What started out as relief for Kagome to find not one but three people living double lives – a human friend and ally of the Detective’s named Kazuma Kuwabara also had to live that way – had turned into a job for the Spirit Detective and his group.

Apparently, history showed that Naraku was defeated and the Jewel destroyed. If that timeline were to be subverted somehow all of time and space could collapse. What that would mean, Inuyasha had never fully understood, but he knew now they had more allies. The Spirit Detective Yuusuke Urameshi, another human spirit warrior Kuwabara, a demon somehow working with the Detective Hiei, and Kurama.

Inuyasha had never felt for any exactly what he felt for Kurama. He felt so close to him. Kurama was, for all intents and purposes, a half-demon able to transform temporarily into his full demon form. Or maybe it wasn’t temporary. Maybe he liked being a half-breed. Inuyasha understood that he joined the Detective out of gratitude when Yuusuke tried to give his own life to keep Kurama and his human mother safe. Inuyasha had never heard of such selfless things. He wanted to know more. More about Yuusuke, sure, but so much more about Kurama.

What was it like growing up unnoticed among humans? What was it like to know he was different and hide it? What was it like to be raised by a human mother, or know her love? Did he fear his demon power or embrace it? Did he regret his monstrous past or let it teach him?

Kurama was everything Inuyasha wanted. And in the weeks they had spent together, readying themselves for their final attack, Inuyasha grew more and more obsessed. He memorized the man’s voice, his eyes, his lips. The arousal was terrifying when he’d first experienced it, but he could no more stop it than he could stop Kurama from leaving when Naraku was dead and the Jewel destroyed.

This was supposed to be their happily ever after. But he couldn’t stop thinking about Kurama. It wholly eclipsed his former feelings for Kagome. What had taken years to form in his heart for her, took mere weeks for Kurama. The fox was a desperate need that Inuyasha couldn’t shake. It eventually quietly destroyed his relationship with Kagome. She returned to her time after a year of being his wife, applied for university and began a job as a Spirit Detective.

But now she was here with something for Kurama.

“Apparently, his birthday is coming up. He’s invited some friends to celebrate with him in a mount house that Yuusuke’s teacher is giving him.”

“That hag’s giving him a house?” Inuyasha muttered. He wasn’t really present. He was taking in Kurama lingering, fading scent on the letters. That’s why when Kagome’s hand came out of nowhere, he had no time to block it.

“Don’t be rude!” she snapped. “Anyway, he wants it to be a ski party. He says ‘it is immaculate and pristine, almost like the Sengoku period. It has unspoiled skiing ground and is very beautiful.’ He wants us to come up and learn to ski.”

“What’s skiing?”

“You’ll see,” Kagome said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Here’s your invitation. I have to go. I’ve got class. I’ll be back in a little while.”

“Study hard,” Inuyasha muttered. The letter was in his hands. He could almost feel Kurama’s presence on it. Though he managed to smile when Kagome kissed him on the cheek, he was glad to have her gone.

After tucking the letter into a pocket, Inuyasha turned and started running. Sesshomaru’s home wasn’t too far away. He could read the letter in peace there. Besides, he needed to tell his brother he was going.

Over the three years after Naraku’s death, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha had become close. Sesshomaru had opened up about the actually need a brother during the time Inuyasha had been pinned to a tree. It made Inuyasha understand his grudge. Family and honor were everything to Sesshomaru. Inuyasha being unavailable when Sesshomaru needed him was a transgression that was not easily overlooked. But Sesshomaru had relent when he understood events had been out of Inuyasha’s control. They weren’t as close as they could be, but they were getting there.

Inuyasha ducked the servants and avoided his brother until he could get to his own room and settle down with the letter. Most of it was obviously copied from one letter to the next. Inuyasha found the part about “immaculate and pristine” though he wasn’t completely sure what those words met. But the last paragraph must have been written for the specific recipient. It was personal.

“I know we haven’t seen only another lately, Inuyasha. I feel that is my fault. I have so busy and so caught up in my own world. But I swear to correct this wrong. Though, I must admit I worry you don’t want to see me. I have had gatherings, in these last several years. You have never arrived at any of them. If I have done anything to offend you, please tell me. I very much wish to see you and I have grown so sad and bitter or your refusal to see me without even an explanation. Please, if you care for me at all, at least tell me why you won’t come.”

Sighing, Inuyasha leaned back. Kagome had invited him to a few parties since she’d gone home. But she’d never mentioned Kurama inviting him or even being in attendance. For all Inuyasha knew they had fallen out of touch. But besides that, Inuyasha had been afraid of making a fool out of himself. He was clumsy when it came to love and wasn’t sure how Kurama viewed him. He’d had no hint that Kurama regarded him with anything more than polite interest. But now, it seemed he’d been thinking of him.

“Fuck,” Inuyasha breathed. He’d learned that word from Kagome and liked it. Inuyasha had already made up his mind to go see Kurama when Kagome gave him the letter. Now he was more than sure. All he had to do and write a reply, which he would ask Sesshomaru to help with.

* * *

“Brother,” Sesshomaru said in greeting as Inuyasha walked into the dining room. “I was worried you won’t come down for dinner.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Well, you came in without seeing me. You’ve avoided me all this time.”

“I was in my room,” Inuyasha explained without quite understanding where this was coming from.

“Yes, I know. I had a servant check on you. You seemed, upset. I thought you’d take more time for yourself.”

“I’m not upset.”

“Oh? Well, then I suppose it’s safe to ask about the fox scent you brought into my house. Kurama, was it?”

Inuyasha gave a great sigh, lowering his chopsticks as he did. “God, you’re a busybody. Yea, it’s Kurama. He’s throwing a party and he wants me to go.”

“He’s never invited you anywhere before.”

“Apparently that isn’t totally true. His letter says he’d reached out to me and I’ve never gone.”

“Hmm. I wonder what his mate thinks of this.”

“Mate?”

“The half-breed.” Sesshomaru paused. “The third half-breed." Another pause in which Sesshomaru actually look annoyed. "The mazouku.”

“Yuusuke’s not his mate.”

“If you believe that, brother, you’re blind. Perhaps they parted ways. Perhaps you captured him and split them up, as you knowing the fox did for you and Kagome.”

“Knowing Kurama didn’t split me and Kagome up!” Inuyasha lied loudly.

“Sure it didn’t. Ask about his relationship with the mazouku. I guarantee that meeting you was the first step in the end of the fox’s relationship with him.”

“You think you know everything.”

“I know how you followed him like you were in heat.”

Inuyasha flushed, half anger, half embarrassment, but Sesshomaru went on.

“I know he liked the attention, foxes tend to. I know you were a distraction for him, from his mate. I know the mazouku regarded you with jealously. He saw what you deny. There was an attraction between you and fox. Maybe they tried to make it work despite that for longer than Kagome would put up with. She left after only a year.”

“Stop it!” Inuyasha snapped. “Fuck, why do you have to be so horrible? Why do you hate me so much?”

Inuyasha was furious, but his fury lost its heat in the face of Sesshomaru’s reaction. The dog’s pure white face turned a little red. His eyes, for a moment, betrayed some degree of pain.

“I don’t hate you, brother. And I’m not trying to hurt you. But whatever plans you and that fox had made before you met one another were destroyed upon your meeting. Sometimes, you meet someone and they change you, and there is nothing in the world you can do about it. I had never seen you the way acted around him. Everyone noticed; they were just too polite to say anything. And it’s not, specifically, a bad thing. It just is. And I don’t believe for a moment, that the fox was able to change you, and leave being unaffected himself.”

“It’s been three years,” Inuyasha muttered, looking down at his meal.

“That is not a long time for us, brother. Kagome was too human for you, in the end. Perhaps the mazouku was likewise for the fox.”

“They have names.” Inuyasha’s voice was small and distant. He looked like a sulking child.

Sesshomaru reached for him and took his hand, which made Inuyasha look up. Sesshomaru and he got along, but his older brother hardly ever touched him.

“I am not doing this to hurt you,” he repeated firmly. “I want you to be happy, brother. We’re family, after all. When you go to his gathering, understand that your invitation might come with ulterior motives. I want you to be aware of the possibilities.”

“I … yeah. Okay, fine.”

Sesshomaru released his hand and went back to eating. After a few minutes of silence, Inuyasha spoke.

“Do you really think that he … feels something for me?”

“I would very surprise if he didn’t.”

* * *

The time to leave for the mountain retreat came more quickly than Inuyasha would have wanted. He knew he was hesitating but it was hard for not to. He felt that no matter what happened, things would change forever. But in the end, he ended up heading for the house alone and on foot.

When he used the well to skip into Kagome’s era, Inuyasha found out for the time that he would have to stay the night at Kagome’s parents’ home. They were leaving early the next morning, before sun up, and Kagome didn’t want to have to go through the well and find him before they left. It made sense, but still, Inuyasha couldn’t stay the night there. It was too painful.

When Kagome had left to return to her era, Inuyasha hadn’t just lost her, but her family well. He’d never had a family, and being accepted by Kagome’s had been one of the best parts of being her lover and husband. And apparently, Kagome had never fully explained her reason for leaving. Well, why would she? Why would she say the shadow of her cousin came between them, that the memories that Inuyasha kept from just a few weeks by his side had been enough to separate them? Her family simply knew that after a year, Kagome had come home and said quietly that they were over.

Now, whenever Inuyasha was around they dropped hints at plans for reconciliation. They didn’t know it was all Inuyasha’s fault that Kagome had left. They kept pushing and their good intentioned meddling hurt more than Kagome leaving. It was a constant reminder that not only had he lost a wife but a family, too. Inuyasha couldn’t stay the night there.

He took a bag and set out for the mountains on foot. The dark of night would conceal him and if he was fast he’d make it to the less populated areas before sun up. Kagome’s mother packed him food and told him to be careful, and he brother gave him a pair of boots that he’d saved up to buy him for the trip. Apparently, they’d all pitched in to buy him clothes for skiing. Inuyasha packed it all and put on the boots and left before he started crying.

The dark of the night did conceal him, but he had no worries of being seen once the sun was up either. Out of nowhere a storm hit. The snow was blinding, the wind chilled him even under his fire-rat kimono, especially when it got soaked through and his skin was wet. But he couldn’t go back and there was no place to stop for shelter. He kept moving to keep warm and went in a straight line, hoping not to get lost. It was with great relief that he saw, after hours of running, a huge house in the distance. He was going to go in and wait out the storm there no matter what he had to do.

However, he was going to be polite. Inuyasha had a horde of people, from his brother to Kagome all telling him he needed to polite. By this point it was hammered into him, so he made his way to the door, which was covered in snow so far up it covered Inuyasha’s knees, and he knocked as loudly as he could without damaging the door.

For a while, there was no answer, but just when Inuyasha was about to give up and find a way in on his own, the door was yanked open. The scent of the person hit Inuyasha before he saw him. The feel of Kurama’s hand on his arm, yanking him forward was familiar. He’d done the same thing to yank him out of the way of an attack once. Inuyasha let himself be dragged into the house, and only really looked up when Kurama’s hand let go.

When he looked up he found himself in a huge house with a giant staircase in front of him. The house was cold, but coldest behind him, so he turned. Kurama was trying to push the door shut against the snow and the wind. Inuyasha closed the distance between them, but Kurama managed to slam the door shut before he reached him, so he stopped.

For a moment, they stood there, Kurama seemingly resting against the door, and Inuyasha watching him. After a couple of silent seconds, Kurama turned. He was as beautiful as Inuyasha remembered.

He had blood red hair and green eyes as liquid and alive as a forest. He was wearing modern clothes, but Inuyasha supposed he would. This was his time. He had a shirt with buttons down the front, and another shirt over it with zigzagging patterns decorating it. His pants were slim, and the bottoms, along with his socked feet, were wet. He was standing in a pile of melting snow.

“Kurama!” Inuyasha was moving forward to pull him out of the pile before he realized he’d said anything. He yanked Kurama out of the snow and looked down at his wet feet. “You’ll freeze!”

“What about you?” the redhead said coolly. “Look at you. You’re soaked through.”

“Yea,” Inuyasha muttered. “I thought I’d never get here.”

“You shouldn’t have come alone.”

“I didn’t want to stay at Kagome’s folks’ place.” The admission surprised Inuyasha, but didn’t seem to surprise Kurama.

“Kagome has been … very private about what happened between the two of you. I understand the impulse. I think people misunderstand exactly where you two stand with one another. I know I have.”

“You …?” Inuyasha was hoping for an explanation, for some insight into how Kurama thought of him all these years. But Kurama simply turned.

“Come on. I've got a little set up in the one room that has a working fireplace. We’ll hole up there until the storm blows itself out.”

Inuyasha followed the man through the house, up the stairs to the grand bedroom. The house had been built with ample windows, leading the walk to be bright and cold with what winter sunlight could filter through the storm. The bedroom had a whole wall made of windows, which were covered with heavy curtains. The ones on the ceiling though were uncovered and letting in light. Most the room was empty but not for lack of items. The whole room seemed to have been arranged around the fireplace making a small, warm space on one side of the room.

Kurama was at one of the wardrobes pulling out clothes and tossing them on the bed.

“Strip off those wet clothes, dry off, and put on those.”

Upon following the fox’s orders, Inuyasha sighed in relief from being warm and dry after so long in the cold.

“Is anyone else coming?” Inuyasha asked.

“No.” Kurama was leaning against the closed wardrobe, his arms crossed over his chest. “Everyone else stayed back to wait to begin their travels this morning, well after the storm began. I canceled.”

“Oh.”

“But you’re welcome to stay here. We’ll be trapped with the roads all clogged with snow anyway, so it’s not like you could leave if you wanted.”

“I wouldn’t want to.” Inuyasha was starting to wonder what was in the air here, that he was being so honest.

“You don’t mind being alone with me?” There was a little smile on Kurama’s face, a smirk that complimented the golden gleam in his eyes.

“No,” was all Inuyasha could say.

* * *

In the time between Inuyasha’s arrival and the dark of the night, they sat in bed with hot food, some books and each other’s company. Kurama filled in some of what had been going on with him.

He confirmed that he and Yuusuke had been involved, but it hadn’t been as straightforward as them dating. Yuusuke demon blood made him act out, and Kurama stepped in to help him. He knew better than anyone what being human then suddenly not being human was like. They grew close because of that intimacy. But when Inuyasha asked if Kurama had fallen in love with Yuusuke, the fox laughed.

“No, no. It was nothing like that. Even us being physical was just me teaching him control. He would have killed anyone else but me.”

“And yet, you weren’t in love.”

“No,” Kurama said and lost the laughing tone of his voice. “We were never in love.”

Inuyasha wondered if Kurama was trying to convince him, or himself.

“Once he got under control," Kurama went on, "once he really felt like he was under control he told Keiko, his longtime female friend, that he was ready for marriage. They married a year ago. She’s pregnant now. They’re very happy.”

“Kagome’s happy too,” Inuyasha blurted out.

“Oh? It’s no secret that she, please excuse me saying this, left you.”

“Yea. I wasn’t what she wanted.”

“You,” he put stress on the word, “weren’t what she,” more stress, “wanted?”

Inuyasha looked at fox, unsure of what to say. “We weren’t what one another wanted.”

“What did you want, Inuyasha?”

The questions hung in the air. It was an invitation, but Inuyasha wasn’t ready to take it. If Yuusuke had walked out on Kurama, Inuyasha had no proof he was anything but a convenience.

“I don’t know,” the dog lied, and Kurama nodded.

“I know how you feel,” he answered and got up. “Have you ever had hot chocolate?”

“Yea. Once.”

“Did you like it?”

“It was good.”

With a smile, Kurama left. Inuyasha used the time alone to think. He needed to know more about Yuusuke and Kurama's affair before revealing anything he might regret. But he would be trying to play mind games with the best of the tricksters, a fox. He wasn’t sure how he going to accomplish anything, but he had to try.

When Kurama returned with two warm mugs full of hot chocolate, Inuyasha accepted his with thanks and took a sip. The taste surprised him enough to pull the cup away from his mouth. Kurama’s soft laughter gathered his attention.

“It’s spiced hot chocolate,” he explained. “A little sweet, a little spicy, a little creamy from the milk and whipped cream. Do you like it?”

Inuyasha looked down at the cup for a second before taking another, longer sip. It was delightful. Hot and smooth, sweet and spicy, it danced over his tongue and he could feel it filling him. Lowering the mug, Inuyasha tried to think of something to say to cover the fact that he’d just thought about having sex with Kurama.

“It’s delicious,” he settled on because it didn’t sound as erotic as ‘It’s so good.’

Kurama nodded and they finished their drinks in silence before getting in bed to sleep.

The warmth of the hot chocolate and the bed made Inuyasha sleepy. He hardly noticed Kurama next to him and before he knew, he was asleep. But he only knew he had been asleep when suddenly he was awake.

Slowly, he sat up. The room was dark. The fireplace was still crackling, but the fire was dying. The electric lamps Kurama had set around their circle were out and above them the skylight showed nothing past the layer of snow on it. Inuyasha reached out and tried the lamp closest to him, but no matter no many times he pulled the string the light stay off. The room was cooling off. He had to do something.

So, he got out of bed and moved to the fireplace. Relighting it was a breeze. It reminded Inuyasha of the ridiculous training he’d done. Once the fire was roaring and the room warming, there was nothing to do but go back to bed. But when he reached the bed, Inuyasha stopped.

Kurama was facing him, laying on his side fast asleep. But his lips were parted in just such a way to make Inuyasha think of kissing him. Inuyasha could smell his scent from his place the by the bed. The room smelt of them, of their bodies and slightly of their sweat from the layers of clothes and roaring fire. It smelt like this was their den and that made a hot feeling twist Inuyasha’s gut. He was slipping his fingers into the waistband of his borrowed clothes without really thinking about it. He’d never had a proper lover, and never had any reason to deny himself self-pleasure. The act came naturally to him.

Watching Kurama’s sleeping face, Inuyasha felt a little tipsy as he stroked himself. Even then he could taste the sweet and spicy hot chocolate. It was subtle, yet complex; it was sweet, spicy, and utterly captivating. The taste was Kurama, was everything Inuyasha adored and wanted from him.

Inuyasha heard himself gasp. It was almost a sob. As good as pleasuring himself was, the hinted promise of pleasure from Kurama made it a pale comparison. He had to bite his hand, both to stifle his sobs, and to use the pain to remind him to keep his distance. He wanted to touch Kurama, wanted to kiss him, wanted to let the fox touch every inch of his body. The final sob was louder than the others, and he buckled, falling to the floor on his knees. Fallen, he pressed his face into to the mattress to try to muffle the little moans he made as he came.

When he was spent, he sat on his knees, face still pressed into the bed, absently rubbing his come between the fingers of his right hand.

* * *

Inuyasha spent the rest of the night on the floor next to his side of the bed. He alternated between watching the fire and staring up at the pitch-black glass of the skylight. When, at last, a bit of sparkling light managed to penetrate the ice and snow on the skylight’s surface and filter into the room, he got up and went into the bathroom that was inside the master bathroom, just outside their circle of warmth.

The room was frigid, and the water came out of the bathroom skin as freezing cold as a mountain stream, but Inuyasha was used to it and felt a bit refreshed to take off the clothes he’d dirtied the night before and splash himself clean with the icy water. Cleaned up, he found his kimono and redressed.

Since Kurama was still asleep, Inuyasha crept out of the bedroom and downstairs to where he figured the kitchen would be. He found it, located some heavy iron pots and ladles, and brought his find upstairs. Being a silent as he could, Inuyasha hung the biggest of the pots on a hook on the wall on the fireplace, where it would heat up. Then he used one of the smaller pots to bring the cold water from the bathroom sink and fill the pot over the fire. The first batch of hot water, he filled the sink with and used to wash the clothes he’d come in. He had to wash it all, or risk Kurama asking why he was only washing the underwear. The next few pots went into the tub, which was more of a challenge than Inuyasha first thought.

The bathroom was so cold the first batch of water lost all its heat by the time the second batch was ready. To combat the temperature difference, Inuyasha put the two largest pots on the fire and kept them on the fire until the water was boiling. When the tub was full of hot water – too hot to touch – Inuyasha look on it with smug satisfaction before going to wake Kurama.

However, when the left the bathroom, he saw Kurama up in bed, reading a book. Pausing, Inuyasha wondered how long he’d been up and how good his sense of smell was while in his human form.

“Kurama?” he called.

“One second,” Kurama replied and a few seconds later he put a marker in the book and looked up. “Good morning,” the fox said with a pretty smile. If he’d smelled Inuyasha’s arousal or release from the night before, he didn’t show it. “Are you done with the hot water?”

“You knew?” Inuyasha walked up to the bed and picked up the outer layer of his kimono. He’d taken it off so he could roll up his sleeves while working with the fireplace.

“I woke up while you were carrying one of the pots to the bathroom. You seemed so focused, I didn’t want to interrupted. But, I couldn’t go back to sleep so I got a book.”

“Oh. Well, the bath will be cool enough to sit in soon so you- “

“We can go together,” Kurama interrupted earnestly. He leaned forward and propped himself up on his raised knees. “The tub is big enough and I can wash your hair if you want.”

“I … if you want.”

“The bath will warm you up.” Kurama seemed to be teasing. His smile was slipping into something that wasn’t quite sweetness.

“I’ve been in the fireplace for a while now. I’m warm.” Inuyasha wanted to leave it at that but Kurama’s glittering eyes beckoned him to say more. “But I’d like a bath, still.”

Kurama gave an undisguised smirk and a nod of approval before getting up and ushering Inuyasha into the bathroom.

The last time Inuyasha had disrobed in front of Kurama he’d done so without hesitation. He’d been getting out of freezing clothes and didn't think twice about getting naked. But now they were disrobing together and getting into a bath that was big enough for them to be comfortable, but not big enough for them not to touch. In fact, Kurama was planning on them touching. He was talking about the soaps he had and the lotions and oil that he could use on Inuyasha’s skin. Inuyasha tried not to think too much about the fact that Kurama was openly planning on rubbing oil over his skin.

The bath ended up being more an enjoyable affair than an awkward one. Kurama’s soaps smelled gently of different plants and flowers, their scents so light they didn’t bother Inuyasha’s demonic nose. Kurama washed his hair and massaged his scalp so that Inuyasha melted into putty in his expert hands. While the fox washed, and messaged him, they talked about the abuses they’d had been forced to out their bodies through.

Inuyasha showed Kurama a tiny scar above his heart. It was all that was left from his time pinned in suspended animation against the tree. Kurama danced his fingers over the mark with a thoughtful expression on his face.

“Did it hurt?” he asked softly.

Inuyasha had never heard his voice so soft and loving. Before the battle, Kurama’s group and Inuyasha’s had trained together to make sure they could work as a team when they needed to and many of them had been injured by accident. Kurama and Kagome had seen to the wounded, and Kurama had wrapped Inuyasha sprained ankle. But his tenderness now was so much more intimate.

“It only hurt for a minute, when it went through my heart. When the sealing arrow went through me and stuck into the Sacred Tree … it was like falling into a peaceful, dreamless sleep. I didn’t even feel Kagome pull the arrow out. All I knew was, I was falling, but I felt strong and awake. I ready to fight before I even landed on the ground.”

His details didn’t seem to quell Kurama’s worry. He kept running his fingers over the mark, his lips parted, leaned a little forward as if he wanted to kiss or lick it.

“I trapped someone in suspended animation once. More than once, but once recently.”

“What did they do to you?”

“A great deal,” Kurama muttered. “He is not in a peaceful, dreamless sleep.”

Kurama looked up. Whatever he’d been thinking about, it had hardened his expression, but he softened as soon as he met Inuyasha’s gaze.

In return for the story, Kurama turned his back on Inuyasha and with his voice lead Inuyasha’s eyes to a small patch of crisscrossing scars on his left side.

“The Hunter was aiming for my heart, I suspect. I dodged but not well enough. The hole in my side was huge; I was dying.”

Inuyasha’s hands found their way to Kurama’s skin without his mind giving them permission. He pressed his fingers into the scar, felt that it was as it seemed, dozens of little, healed over tears one over the other until there was a knot of them reaching deep into Kurama’s muscles. As he slid his hands over the knot, feeling it from his fingertips to his palm, he asked, “How are you so graceful?”

Laughing lightly, Kurama shook his head. “I don’t know, sometimes. It hurts still; it’s a weak spot in my very spirit. Every time I get injured it gets worse.”

It seemed the most natural thing for Inuyasha to slid forward and press himself as close to Kurama as he could, so he did it. “I’m so sorry,” he muttered, with his cheek resting on Kurama's shoulder.

“It’s alright. It was my own fault. And I take it out on my enemies anyway.”

When Inuyasha’s eyes flicked up and saw Kurama peeking at him over his shoulder, he wondered if he should be worried. He was smiling, but it wasn’t friendly.

However, Inuyasha found that he got used that smile. They traded stories, and tales of injuries. They revealed that though they fought to help people, some small part of them relished in the thrill of battle, the thrill of grinding their enemies into the ground, the thrill of their own power.

Washed and oiled, eventually they climbed out of the tub, dried off, dressed, and left the room for breakfast materials. Kurama said he’d guessed the power was out when he’d seen Inuyasha heating the water over the fire, so in a clever use of their situation, Kurama took everything out of the refrigerator and stuck in in the snow just outside the back door. Since the snow was completely covering the exit, Kurama just hollowed out a pit with his hands and stuck the food in the snow. Then he took what they needed for breakfast, and while Kurama warmed his hands, Inuyasha fried bacon and eggs, cooked some rice and made some miso soup. They ate by the fire, washed their dishes in cold water, cleaned the tub, and settled into bed with a book that Kurama read out loud.

* * *

The day passed as the last one hand, even ending with spiced hot chocolate before bed. And like the night before, Inuyasha suddenly found himself wide awake, staring up into the darkness of the room. Only this time, he was already hard when he opened his eyes. For a few minutes Inuyasha toyed with ignoring it, but he had no practice for that and gave in with very little self-conflict.

Kurama was so much closer than he had been the night before. He was practically holding Inuyasha’s right arm. Inuyasha turned his body a little so he could watch Kurama’s face, and got himself off by just touching the head of his cock. It was just barely satiating, but it was enough for Inuyasha to go back to sleep, even in sticky underwear.

Another day passed as they last had. Inuyasha woke early, washed himself and his dirty clothes in cold water, and then got hot water for the bath. Kurama got up soon after Inuyasha, but wordlessly got a book and read until Inuyasha called him for a bath. After washing, soaking, and rubbing down with oils ad lotions, Kurama picked the food for breakfast, and Inuyasha cooked. They read, talked, slept, and ate not just twice, but three times more.

“I’m going to get soft like this,” Inuyasha muttered over his second slice of dessert.

“Well, it won’t always be like this,” Kurama responded over his book. “We can go somewhere and be active when we can get out.”

For some reason, Inuyasha felt it better not to ask why Kurama seemed so sure of their future.

On the third night, when he woke up Inuyasha found Kurama holding him. They were laying on their sides, Inuyasha’s back to Kurama’s chest, Kurama’s arm holding him snuggly. Though the feeling of being in the fox’s embrace when straight to Inuyasha’s groin, he laid still and tried to sleep.

He was almost there, warm, safe, and sleepy in the protective embrace when Kurama spoke.

“Is something wrong, Inuyasha?” he whispered into Inuyasha’s neck. “The last two nights, you were so excited to be near me. The smell of your arousal was delicious. The sounds you make when you’re pleasuring yourself are absolutely intoxicating. I could barely stand pretending to sleep to give you some privacy.”

“Pretending to sleeping and listening to me ...”

“Pleasuring yourself?” Kurama offered when Inuyasha trailed off.

“That!” Inuyasha felt himself flush. “That's privacy to you?”

“I didn’t get up and ravish you, did I? And believe me, I wanted to. I was so thrilled you felt the same way about me that I feel about you.”

Finally, having had enough, Inuyasha sat up, breaking free of Kurama’s hold and faced him. Even though he was annoyed at the fox, the loss of his warmth was a bitter sensation.

“You planned this,” Inuyasha hissed.

Kurama sat up, swept his hair over his shoulder, and met Inuyasha’s accusing gaze coolly.

“I invited you because I always invite you. You’ve simply never come. And I only recently understood why. Kagome misunderstood my intentions. She believed that I, like most people, thought you were going through a rough patch in your relationship that you’d get over in time. She thought my invitations for you were an attempt to get the two of you to spend pleasurable time together. Even when I believed that you two might reconcile, my interest in you was always detached from your relationship with my cousin.”

“So, you invited me- “

“Because I am interested in being close to you. We … we’re compatible, Inuyasha.”

It was true. They got along so well, so easily. Inuyasha couldn’t deny the fox was right.

“It’s too bad we were both involved with other parties when we met,” Kurama muttered, turning his eyes away.

“You said you weren’t really in a relationship with Yuusuke,” Inuyasha quipped almost angrily. He didn’t like being manipulated, didn’t like feeling this want while another toyed with him, and wanted to hurt the fox.

“He didn’t think so; I did. I thought … the person I loved before Yuusuke he… it hurt so much t lose him. I just thought that I had found someone who felt the same way I did. When I met you, what I felt when I met you, I was so worried. I didn’t want Yuusuke to think I was drifting. Foxes aren’t known for romantic loyalty, you know. I wanted you as much in three days, as I wanted Yusuke in years. I’m not used to being out of control of my emotions. I had no defense against my feelings for you except the desperate need I had to be loyal to Yuusuke. And even then, it broke my heart to see Kagome kiss you.”

“So,” Inuyasha muttered with cooling anger, “when Yuusuke betrayed you- “

“He didn’t betray me!” Kurama quipped. “He … it was a misunderstanding.”

The excuse was so weak, Inuyasha wanted to cringe at hearing it. “Making love to you and then telling you it was nothing to him was a misunderstanding?”

Though the comment had a knife’s edge to it, it wasn’t meant to hurt Kurama, but to simply state the truth. Inuyasha saw how much Kurama wanted to protect Yuusuke, even now. And for his part, Kurama didn’t even seem angry at his words. But he did flinch, and since he wouldn’t look away from his gaze, Inuyasha saw the pain in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Inuyasha added. “But he took the love you had for him, used it, and expected to be let go when he was ready to leave you.”

They sat there for a few minutes, staring at one another before Kurama sighed. It was the only sign Kurama gave of conceding.

“I know,” he said wearily. His eyes were still technically meeting Inuyasha’s gaze, but they were glazed over and unseeing. “You’re right, I know. I’ve had men love me. Yomi loved me. Kuronue, god, he loved me maybe more than anyone ever has. But Yuusuke, he loved me as a friend, a good friend, a brother, but not a lover. Never that.”

Inuyasha wasn’t sure what he could say to make things better, so he was simply honest. “At least he’s ignorant and happy.”

Kurama’s eyes refocused on him and the fox frowned. “Hmm?”

“After you left, Kagome and I were married for a year. It was an unhappy marriage. We didn’t fight, but we were so distant.” He paused for a second, then went on more honestly, “I was distant. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I couldn’t forget about how you made me feel, and remembering that Kagome didn’t make me feel like that. The sex was … I think we were happier not trying.”

“I can’t imagine you having sex with her,” Kurama admitted with a crooked smile.

“Good. It was terrible … I gave her, she called it oral. It was just once because I hated it and she didn’t enjoy it. But admittedly, what was she expecting? That’s not how sex works.”

At this point, Kurama was laughing softly. “What’s not how sex works?”

“Oral,” Inuyasha said like it was a nonsense word.

Kurama laughed wholeheartedly now, head tilted back, exposing his throat. Annoyed with being laughed at, and feeling strangely playful now that the air was clear, Inuyasha moved closer and went for Kurama’s neck, kissing it lightly while the fox laughed. When Kurama’s gaze met Inuyasha’s again the fox was smirking.

“I can show you how it works,” he offered softly.

Inuyasha knew what he meant. Or at least he thought he knew what he meant. But there was something about the wording that made him suspicious. So, he asked, “How what works?”

Kurama brought them close together, so close Inuyasha could taste Kurama’s breath. Then he answered, “Oral.”

* * *

Kurama made Inuyasha promise he would speak out the moment he wanted things to stop, before allowing them to undress and kiss.

The kiss wasn’t a passive activity, like when Inuyasha kissed Kagome. Kissing Kagome made everything stand still; kissing Kurama made everything race. Soon Inuyasha was panting and writhing under Kurama’s skillful attention. Kurama kissed his mouth, opening it and making love to him with just their mouths. When the fox tired of ravishing his mouth, he began kissing Inuyasha’s body, his neck, his chest. Kurama did stop once he was settled between Inuyasha’s spread legs.

“Do you still want to know how oral sex works?”

Inuyasha looked down at him, flushed and needy. If Kurama’s mouth was going to make his aching, cock come, he’d agree to anything.

“Yea.”

Smiling Kurama inched closer. “I’m going to have to find a video to show how it’s supposed to work on a woman.” Then before Inuyasha could comment, he was engulfed in Kurama’s hot, wet mouth.

Even in the first moment, Inuyasha was thrown off his guard. He groaned and tilted his head back. He thought that he shouldn’t buck his hips up and drive himself into Kurama’s mouth, as he was doing that very thing. Kurama let him thrust into him at times. At other times held his hips down and licked him maddeningly slow to tease him. Kurama made him squirm, made him whine and writhe. In the end, he even made him beg.

Shamelessly, Inuyasha begged for release, said he’d do anything for it, screamed, “Please, please!” until the word lost meaning. He barely noticed Kurama intrusion when he pushed his somehow slick fingers past Inuyasha’s protective ring of muscles and into his body. He did notice the strange, pleasurable jolt he got when those fingers tapped on something inside him. Then Inuyasha had to quickly learn to thrust up into Kurama’s mouth and down on his fingers. Inuyasha thrust and rocked and begged until Kurama showed him mercy and let him come.

Orgasm was less satisfaction and more blacking out due to an overload intense pleasure. The last thing Inuyasha thought was that he was dying.

* * *

Of course, he wasn’t dying. Inuyasha woke up an indiscriminate amount of time later, cradled in Kurama’s arms, cover by blankets.

“Did I really pass out?” Inuyasha asked. He tested his body one part at a time, almost expecting to find an injury.

“Hmm? Oh, not really. It was more like you were asleep, or half asleep.” Kurama was using his free hand to turn the pages of a book that was being held up but a very peculiar plant that had somehow grown next to the bed. “I asked if you liked it. You said yes, but it was sort of muffled and muttered. I kept asking you if you were okay, and you were nodding and smiling and snuggling up to me. You know, you’re very cuddly when you’ve just come.”

Though that was probably the single most embarrassing thing he’d ever heard someone say to him, Inuyasha ignored it. He sat up, still testing his muscles.

“Sesshomaru is going to be unbearable when he finds out about this.”

“He doesn’t like me?” Kurama asked. He almost sounded a little worried.

Inuyasha smiled and turned back to him. “No. He was convinced that your invitation came with … ulterior motives, he called them.”

“I had no ulterior motives,” Kurama said coolly. “I just wanted to kiss you all over your body.” Though the sentence was provocative, Kurama managed to say it with a straight face. It was a simple fact to him.

“Well, he’ll be glad to know he was right.”

For a moment, they sat there watching each other, each wondering what the other was thinking. Kurama was the first to speak.

“Would you like to see where I grew up?”

“The demon realm?”

“Yes. Sesshomaru may like it. It could be a trip for approval.”

“Whose approval?!” Inuyasha gasped.

Kurama put down his book and closed the distance between them. “I do need to present myself to your only living family, don’t I? That’s proper if we’re going to continue things like this.” The fox’s smile had something wicked to it, and Inuyasha wasn’t surprised that despite the talk of family Kurama kissed him.

* * *

It ended with a letter.

Yuusuke smelled Kagome in the living room before he heard her panicked whispers. He almost turned around and left Keiko to deal with it, but he’d heard Kurama’s name and needed to be involved in whatever discussion that was happening.

“Hey, guys,” Yuusuke called as he entered the room. He was covered in a thin layer of sweat since he’d been working out but figured the girls wouldn’t care.

“Yuusuke!’ Keiko called back. Her face was twisted with worry and it made Yuusuke tense.

He wasn’t even sure what was happening yet and he was already prepared to punch someone in the face over it. “What’s wrong?”

“Inuyasha is gone,” Keiko said. “He sent Kagome a letter saying he’s leaving. Kurama is with him. Didn’t Kurama send you a letter as well?”

Though he tried not to show it, the tension melted out of him. He saw why they were worried, but he couldn’t bring himself to empathize. “Yea,” he muttered. “They’re going to Makai for a while. No big deal. They even took Inuyasha’s brother along for the ride.”

The girls looked at him like he was crazy. When Kagome looked down, Keiko shot Yuusuke a glare.

“He’s never left,” Kagome muttered. “He … didn’t even tell me beforehand that he was leaving.”

“I’m sure there was a good reason,” Keiko assured her.

In that moment, Yuusuke had never felt less human. Keiko and Kagome didn’t understand. He couldn’t blame them. Until a little while ago, Yuusuke hadn’t understood either.

Demons and human had the same shape, one torso, four limbs, a head. The horn or claws of demon-kind seemed as meaningless as different hair colors on humans. Yuusuke had thought that there was really no line between a human and a demon, and that he could learn to control himself and go back to life-as-usual. But he had been wrong, and he couldn’t.

Keiko was pregnant. Botan had warned Yuusuke his child, especially if it was a boy, might be more demon than human now that Raizen ancient blood was active in him. Keiko’s mother had talked to them about the future, late nights with a baby, long days with a toddler, high school exams, college, Keiko and him growing old together.

But Yuusuke wasn’t going to grow old with her. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to go hungry for thousands of years in grief after she died. One day when Yuusuke had been up late, staring at the moon, clutching Kurama’s letter in his hand, he’d realized that he’d never really meant to end whatever the hell he’d been doing with Kurama. He’d only meant to put in on pause, to give Keiko her fair share, because he’d promised her things first, and because she would be gone soon enough for anything he had with Kurama to wait.

Keiko and Kagome were the same. Keiko had waited for him; Kagome kept the trouble with Inuyasha a secret because part of her was still waiting for him. They thought they made the demons in their lives into men when really, they just delayed the evitable.

“Yuusuke!” Keiko barked.

Yuusuke grimaced and shifted foot to foot. He’d had meant to stop listening. “Yep?”

“When do you think they’ll be back?” she stressed.

There was a tricky question. Whose standard of time were they using? They could be gone weeks or years and never know the difference. A demon’s brain saw time differently than a human’s. “I don’t know,” admitted. Then he perked up. “I’m sure Sesshomaru will bring them back. He’ll want to see his kid, right? And she’s human.”

The answer didn’t seem to be the right one. Kagome turned bluish-gray, Keiko flushed scarlet. His words seem to remind them, somewhere in the back of their brains, that they weren't talking about normal humans.

“I’m sure they’ll be back in a timely manner,” Keiko said. She was squeezing Kagome’s shoulders and glaring at Yuusuke.

It almost hurt Yuusuke to see them. They were holding on so tight. Yuusuke had already made peace with his future goodbyes, and future apologies. Maybe Sesshomaru would like some company. He was sort of cute, and as an added plus for Yuusuke's possible demonic offspring, the old demon was good with kids.

“Will you at least call them?” Keiko asked.

“Yea,” Yuusuke muttered. “I’ll call.” Saying so, he turned and left the humans to their confusion and their grief.


End file.
